A Challenge to Face
by Elf Jester
Summary: Narumi is a young girl from Osaka Japan. She has always dreamed of going to the world of Pokemon where she could escape the real world and start a journey. When she makes it there, it ends up not being as fun as she thought.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Is This Real!

I had just beat Pokemon Black and White completely for the third time since I bought the game. I had also completed my Heart Gold and Soul Silver game. I had the complete Pokedex on both of them. I turned off Pokemon Black for the night and sat my gameboy (3DS) under my pillow. I was looking forward to the day when they would release a new Pokemon region. I always dreamed that one day I might be able to go the Pokemon world, but I knew just as well as anyone that it was (maybe not impossible) but _very _difficult to be able to do that.

I laid my head down and fell slowly asleep. I waited slowly for my dreams to come to me, it seemed like it took forever tonight.

_ "Narumi!" My older brother Akimitsu, called to me from outside my room. "If you don't hurry up, you are going to be late on getting your first Pokemon!"_

_ I grumbled a little and moved slowly off my bed. I've been looking forward to this day my whole life, but I never could get myself motivated to move in the mornings. I slipped my house shoes on and walked over to the dresser. I grabbed my skirt with the plaid and card suit design on it. I changed into that. I then grabbed my shirt that had Gengar, Banette and Sabley all playing cards on it. I slipped it on._

_ I then walked to my mirror. I brushed my hair and pulled it up to either side in two small buns. I wrapped them and then went downstairs, where Akimtsu had already beat me to. He was eating his rice already and mom was at the counter fixing me a bowl. I accepted it and sat down at the kotatsu. I grabbed my chopsticks and ate at the rice quickly. I was now looking forward to my Pokemon. I didn't quite know which one I was going to choose yet though._

_ I sat my bowl in the sink and gave mom a hug before leaving to go to the lab. I slipped on my tall 9-buckle combat boots that had small chains around the ankle having small charms of the playing card suits. I left the house and headed straight for the lab. _

_ Professor Juniper was in the lab and already had the three starters out and ready to be chosen. I examined each one carefully and thought about my choice really good. I smiled and looked at Professor Juniper. "I've made up my mind." I said and she returned the three Pokemon._

"Narumi!" Akimtsu's voice woke me up from the best dream I have had in a while. "Wake up! If you don't hurry, you are going to be late for your first day of school!"

I shoved my face deeper into my pillow. Why did he have to remind me that stupid school was back in session? I wanted nothing more than to go to the Pokemon world and just forget about it all. I hated school and I hated reality. The thing that sucked the most about both of them is there were no real Pokemon no matter where I went. Yes, I was 17 years old and still couldn't get my head out of the Pokemon Games. I've wanted to go to the Johto region my whole life, but I would complain no matter where I went. I would just like to be in Johto because it's my favorite.

I dragged myself out of bed. Angry and very irritated that my dream wasn't real. I hated waking up from my dreams about Pokemon and finding out that they were just that, a dream. I walked over to the dresser and put on the same outfit I had in my dream and fixed my hair up the same way. I sighed as I walked down the stairs.

I was surprised to see that it had been just like in my dream. On any other day, Akimtsu would have sat outside my door, banging for hours until I finally opened it and came along downstairs. But today, he was downstairs eating his rice, just like he had been in my dream. I almost thought that the dream was coming true until I remembered, I had to get up for _school_ not to go meet the professor.

Mom was fixing me a bowl of rice and offered it over. I looked at her and shook my head. "I don't have much of an appetite right now, I'll eat breakfast at school." I told her.

She shrugged her shoulders and sat at the kotatsu with the bowl and started eating. I put on my same boots and walked out the door. "I will be going now!" I said.

"Don't forget your backpack!" Mom called to me.

I grabbed my Gengar messenger bag and my Pikachu "purse" and left the house. The walk to school was quiet all the way up until my best friend, Nanami caught up with me. "Hey Narumi!" He panted heavily as he finally caught me. "I went by your house so that we could walk to school together, but your mom said that you had already left. Bad day?"

I turned to him and smiled. I was surprised it was just him today, usually him and his boyfriend, Kamenosuke, were always together. "Kind of." I admitted too easily. "I had a dream that I was in the Pokemon world last night just to wake up and be reminded that it is our first day of school." I let out a big sigh.

Nanami placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Hey," He said. "I understand how you feel." I would love it if we were in the Pokemon world right now. Anything beats going to school."

Me and Nanami actually became friends _because _of our interest in Pokemon. We were only in Nursery School when we started talking and our great friendship had built up from there. "So true." I said.

We continued on our way to school talking about what we would do if we just randomly appeared in the Pokemon world. It was a good way to start off my day after thinking about how terrible it was that I was about to start school again.

I looked at the damned school building. I thought back to my dream where I was in the Unova region. I thought about it for a while, if I was to go to the Pokemon world from where I am at geographically, it would be the Johto region because I live in Osaka, the Kansai region.

Me and Nanami walked through the front doors, and I lowered my head, not ready to start the day. I just wanted to go home and dream a bit more. I looked up because I didn't hear the sound of the bell ringing and the environment felt somehow different. I slowly raised my head up to find out that I was not in the same building that I thought I was walking into. "Hey, do you see this Nanami?" I laughed. "We're not even at school."

I didn't get a response. I looked around trying to see where Nanami went, but he was not anywhere near me. I was the only on in the room. I observed the surroundings to try to realize where I was at. There was a desk on the right side of the wall with a computer on it. At the backside of the room there was a tall capsule machine that was closed. There was a table going across the wall with three chairs at it. Some books were open and there were unorganized piles of paper work. Bookshelves lined the right wall of the room starting at the end of the desk.

"Nanami?" I repeated. There was no way in the world that he would just disappear like that. This was all just too weird. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. They were the same. They were still the same. At least something in this place was a bit familiar. My Gengar bag was gone, but I still had my little Pikachu bag.

The door came open behind me. I turned around hoping to see Nanami come in, but it was some doctor looking dude in a lab coat. He spotted me and ran up to me. "Oh, I see!" He said. I looked at him. He had really short light brown hair. His eyes were a light brown also, almost as light as his hair. He wore small oval shaped glasses. His lab coat had some papers in the pocket. He looked at me curiously. I looked back at him trying to find out why he looked so familiar.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me finally.

"Um...I think I came here to go to schoo-" I started but he cut me off.

"If you wanted to get your first Pokemon, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't have another starter available for pick up. I just gave them all away. You were supposed to meet me in the town park."

"Oh, come on." I said. "Don't mess with me now. Why would I come here to get a Pokemon?" I tested him to see what kind of crazy answer he would come up with.

"Well, that's what all the new trainers come here for." The scientist stated.

I laughed. "That would be great now, only if were true." I said. "Pokemon don't exist, no matter how badly I want them to, they don't exist."

The scientist looked at me curiously. "What are you talking about, they don't exist? Sure they do. We see them everyday and they help us out in our lives in many ways. Have you never seen a Pokemon before?" His voice had a tone of concern in it.

"Yes, I have seen many Pokemon in all the video games I have played. But never in real life have I seen one." I told him.

I was becoming frustrated that he would try to mess with me and make me believe that there were Pokemon in this world my whole life and I never, not once, got the chance to see one. I looked around the room. I didn't see a single Pokemon, pokeball or any other kind of article that would show the existence of Pokemon even in this room. I wanted to ask him about my best friend, but he probably wouldn't know the answer to that.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," He said walking over to his desk and setting the papers from his coat on it. "If you like, today I can show you a Pokemon."

I looked at him curiously. I couldn't believe that he was taking this joke so far as to actually suggest showing me a Pokemon. How cruel could he get. I decided to give in just to see what kind of trick he had up his sleeve. "Okay." I smiled. "I would like that a lot."

He told me to follow him while he led me to the front of the room. He pressed a button on the side of the capsule and a small computer screen and key board came out of the opened cubby hole. He typed in something and the capsule opened up. There was a Pokeball in there and it looked like a real one. Not like a toy to where they almost match the ones in the anime. This one looked like a real authentic pokeball. It had on a metal looking coat, making it look all shiny. The button in the center was real and not like what you see on the ones that release little Pokemon figures. I studied the ball and finally the scientist picked it up.

"This one here is a little guy that was sick on the beach of Cianwood City." The guy said and he released the Pokemon from the ball.

On the ground laid a creature that very closely resembles Shellder. I looked down at it. The creature had a small black body on the inside with wide white eyes and a pink tongue sticking out. The shell covering the body was a dark purple and he had the horns coming off just like Shellder did in the Pokemon anime and games. This one looked more real though. There was a silky wetness look to the shell and the edges and the surface had ridges like what you see on normal clam shells. When the Pokemon spoke it's name, it had a bubbly sound to it, almost as if the Pokemon had water stuck in it's throat.

I got really excited. "So you're not kidding!" I exclaimed. "This is really for real! Pokemon exist now!"

The guy looked at me quizzically. "I'm not quite sure what you mean." He said. "They have always existed."

"And you..." I hugged him. He seemed a little surprised, but he returned the favor. "You much be Professor Elm, no?"

"Actually, that is very correct." He smiled.

"But, you don't have any Pokemon to give me today?" I asked and let go of him sadly.

"No, but tomorrow my assistant should be returning home with some Pokemon and you can come back then. I think you should go home and rest for the night though." Professor Elm informed me.

"For the night?" I asked and looked out the window. Surely, it was night time now. Apparently I had somehow warped through space and time. I was so carried away in finding out where I was that I didn't even pay attention to the time of day. "Umm...but there is one problem...Professor." I said.

"And what might that be?" He asked.

"I don't really know where home is." I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked me.

"Well, you see. I was actually on my way to school on Earth, and then all of a sudden, I appear here in the Pokemon world." I explained.

"What are you talking about? This is Earth." Professor Elm tried cheering me up, but it didn't work. "Look here, there is a hotel down the street. You can stay there for the night if you like." He put some money in my hands.

I looked up at him. "But, I can't really accept this."

"Please, you can pay me back in someway when you start your journey." He said.

I nodded. I opened the door to the lab and walked out. I bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said and looked up. Ironically enough, it was my brother, Akimitsu that I ran into.

He looked at me. He was holding a bag with Gengar on it. It resembled my messenger bag, but it was much larger. He also had a side pack that would go around someone's waist. "Narumi, Mom reminded you before you left to bring your bags." He said.

I smiled and hugged him. "Thank you," I said. "I am going to stay the night in the hotel here since I can't get my first Pokemon today. Are you going to stay as well?"

Akimitsu looked at me. "No, the train is going back to Goldenrod City tonight, so I'm going to ride back." He informed me. "It's probably best you stay here though, so you don't have to come back tomorrow."

I nodded. So my family was from Goldenrod City. It would only make sense because Goldenrod was supposedly based off of Osaka, Japan. I gave my brother another hug and headed for the hotel. I still wondered what happened to Nanami. I hoped he wasn't left behind going to school while I was here having fun in the Pokemon World. I walked over to the hotel. The rooms were fairly cheep and nice.

They had a Mr. Mime in there who would lead us the way to our rooms. Mr. Mime sure did look a little different in this world. His skin was kind of close to human skin, but he wore the same clothes and everything. What resembled fur on his head actually looked almost like blades in the real world. So apparently there were some differences for Pokemon on the games and realistic Pokemon.

I thought I wasn't tired because I just woke up like an hour ago, but as soon as my head fell on the pillow, I was out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: My First Pokemon

I woke up in the morning almost wondering if I was back in my room or not. I was relieve to find out that I had still been in the hotel. That was a good thing because I didn't want to back home to the world of no Pokemon no matter what. I walked back over to Elm's house. It was around noon when I woke up, so I figured his assistant would be back by now.

I walked into the lab with out knocking, hoping that I wouldn't need to. I saw Elm sitting at his desk resting his head on his arm. I ran up to him. "Hi Professor Elm!" I cheered.

He looked up at me and sat upright in his chair. "Oh, hey..."

I just realized that I never did give him my name yesterday. "Narumi." I gave him the answer.

"Hey Narumi." He said. "I'm sorry to say that there was some problems at our breeding lab and the baby Pokemon that we were going to give out today have been stolen."

I looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?"

He stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I knew it would happen. I never could be as great as a professor like Professor Oak was." He sighed and fell back into his chair. "I'm sorry, I can't give you a Pokemon today either."

I smiled. This was just what I liked when I took my first try at the world of Pokemon. It was going to be a challenge, but a lot of fun. "Hey Professor Elm!" I said, "Don't you worry. If you just give me a Pokeball, I can go out and get a Pokemon myself." I smiled. I didn't know much about Pokemon in real life, but I was sure that they couldn't be much different than what they were like in the games.

Professor Elm looked at me curiously. "And I can even find out what went on at the Breeding Lab for you!" I was excited about starting this new adventure.

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that." He said and slumped in his chair.

"You don't have to ask. I _want _to do this. Let's just consider it pay for you getting me my hotel room last night." I smiled.

He looked thoughtful for a minute. "Okay, but I should warn you to be careful." Elm said. "Pokemon can be tough to handle if you are a trainer on your own."

I nodded. "I already know this." I told him.

He grabbed a pokedex, pokegear and 6 pokeballs. He handed them all to me. "The Pokedex will give yo-" Elm started, but I cut him off this time.

"Professor, I've already told you. I've played the games, I know what these all do." I smiled.

He just nodded. "Now, remember. Just be careful. Don't go for any Pokemon that looks too big for you to handle."

"You're starting to sound like my Mom." I laughed. "I'll be fine! Thanks Professor!" I called to him as I left the lab.

So, since this was the Johto region, that mean that I was in New Bark Town. I would have to leave west out of town in order to make it to the next town of Cherrygrove City. I knew that it would be a little dangerous to leave by myself and not have a Pokemon to protect me, but I had faith in my skills. I looked up at the sun. I hoped to find a good Pokemon that I could have as my starter. I know that in the games there wasn't much of a variety at the beginning, but that was based on easy catch. I'm sure there were different Pokemon all around in real life. I soon found myself to be right.

Walking around I had already seen a Mareep, which was so much cuter realistically than it was in the anime or on the games. I saw a few Sentret and Furret hanging out all together, but I was sure I wouldn't mess with them, unless I wanted to be attacked by the whole army. I found some Hoothoot resting away in their nests, as it was not late enough for them to come out quite yet. I loved Pokemon so much, I just didn't want to mess with any of them.

I kept walking around around and exploring. I had to find the right Pokemon. I hoped that I wouldn't get myself so off track that I would loose the way to Cherrygrove. I just wanted to have a Pokemon before I made it that far for sure.

I walked through the woods, as I decided to take a different route. I jumped down a tall set of rock. I felt something tickling at my leg and when I turned around, I saw that it was an Ariados. When I played the games, I thought these guys were cool, but they were not so much in real life. This one was big, maybe around 1.5 meters tall. He was big and furry. I could see small prickly hairs coming off his fangs, and his horn on his head had a little bit of purple up at that top. I was guessing that that was his poison. The fur on his legs matched that of a real spider as well. Just imagine your average tomato spider, but 15x bigger.

I started running hoping that this spider couldn't catch up with me. I know that speed ended up being one of Ariados's worst traits, but that didn't mean that he couldn't run fast. I tripped over some stupid vines on the ground while I was running, and that gave the Ariados plenty of time to catch up. I couldn't move fast enough, I had to think of someway to get him away before he caught up. Suddenly a bright and hot orange flash came out of nowhere. There was fire in front of me, keeping the Ariados from getting all the way over here. A Houndour jumped down from somewhere and stood in front of me, defensively. He shot a blast of fire at the Ariados and chased him away. When the spider was gone, the dog turned back and looked at me. He barked happily.

I got a good look at Houndour. He looked like normal Houndour that I saw in the anime, but I could see his fur detail. His fur was smooth and black, much like that of a Doberman's fur, with a red mouth and underbelly. The skull on his head resembled more closely to the skull of a giant rodent creature. The bones around his feet and back seemed to actually come out from under his skin, making him look more like a zombie than what Houndour originally look like.

I smiled an walked up to pet him. I bent down to talk to him. "Thank you for helping me." I said. "That was very brave of you."

He smiled and barked happily. His bark had a fiery sound to it. When I stood up, he just kept looking at me. I wondered, then, why he was out here all alone. I knew that Houndour and Houndoom usually stayed in packs. Maybe that's why he helped me. Maybe he lost his pack and wanted me to help him find it...or maybe he wants to start a new pack with me. "Where is your family at?" I asked him.

He lowered his head down, but didn't make any sound. "Okay..." I thought for a minute. "I am looking for a Pokemon to join me along on my journey, and I was wondering how you would like to be that one?" I asked him. "My family is far away too, as I just started my journey."

The Houndour looked up at me and pounced in approval. I laughed and pulled out a Pokeball. I honestly wondered how Pokemon could fit into these things. He jumped up and pressed his nose to it, bringing himself in. The pokeballs, since I forgot to mention earlier, were actually almost made out of crystal ball like material. I was so happy to have finally gotten my first Pokemon, and I let him back out of the ball right away. He jumped up to my chest knocking me over and licking me in the face. "Now we just need a name for you." I smiled. "How about Bones?" I asked. He barked in approval to that too, and me and my new pal, Bones, were ready to head to Cherrygrove City.


End file.
